Those who commit usury will stand like those who have been possessed (obsessed with delusive ideas) by Satan (jinni). This is because they equate usury to trade. Whereas Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury (in trade one pays the value of the good, but with usury one pays exceedingly more than the money originally owed. Hence, usury is contrary to the idea of unrequited helping and giving). So, whoever abandons usury after receiving admonition from his Rabb, his past belongs to him, his judgment will be with Allah. And whoever reverts to usury, they are the inmates of fire. They will abide therein eternally. (A.Hulusi)

Those who devour usury will not stand except as stand one whom the Satan by his touch Hath driven to madness. That is because they say: “Trade is like usury,” but Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. Those who after receiving direction from their Lord, desist, shall be pardoned for the past; their case is for Allah (to judge); but those who repeat (the offense) are companions of the Fire: They will abide therein (for ever). (A.Yusuf Ali)

Elleziyne ye’kulunerRiba la yekumune illa kema yekumulleziy yetehabbetuhusheytanu minel mess Those who eat usury does stand like people who have been possessed, tricked and souls bought by satan.

As you remember, our last lessons were about the verses of charity, infak, help without waiting a retutn and spending for goodness. Now the topic has changed for usury in Qur’an. A connection has been established between a topic of charity and a topic of usury. Qur’an has put these two concepts, charity and usury, opposite sides and now it explains what kind of economical germ, a social virus and the source of many social negativity; this usury nightmare is. “Those who eat usury does stand like people who have been possessed, tricked and souls bought by satan.” So the usurer cannot act with the direction of his own heart.

Now here, why does a usurer, a usury devourer acts like a person possessed by demon, stand like a person whose soul is bought by satan? To understand this cause throughly, we should look at the nature of usury. The literal meaning of usury is bloating, overflowing. But the word Qur’an uses for usury is Riba. It’s real for is riba, not usury.

So what is Riba. In dictionary, the word of riba also has meanings like; increase, multiply, proliferate, grow as a whole, extend. Using the word usury as riba is just a semantic cheating. In my opinion Ottoman Empire founded this trick about the increasing debts they had to pay to western countries to explain the religious citizens. They had used the word usury instead of riba. But those who have the right mind figured out this semantic trick and realized that usury was indeed riba. From that point the word usury has become a part of language to describe riba.

The first verse arrived about usury is the 39th verse of the sure Rum. [Ve ma ateytum min riben li yerbuve fiy emvalinNasi fela yerbu indAllah* ve ma ateytum min zekatin turiydune vechAllahi feulaike humul mud’ifun; Rum/39]. In this verse the message briefly says; Allah doesn’t give you an increase for what you get from usury. Even this verse counts as the first step of usury restriction, the message hasn’t banned the usury completely but criticize the concept instead. This 39th verse of the Rum chapter has stand as a critic not as a law-bringer.

The only verse in Qur’an which comes with a restriction nature for usury is the 130th verse of Alu Imran. In this verse; Ya eyyuhelleziyne amenu la te’kulurRiba ad’afen mudaafeten, vettekullahe leallekum tuflihun; Al-u Imran/130. O you who have faith, to prove yourselves don’t consume multiplied return of usury.

This is the only verse arrived with a restriction nature for usury. That’s why Qur’an bans the concept of usury completely with this verse in Alu-Imran by using the expression of devouring multiplied return of usury. But the restriction of usury took its final shape with the verse we now come to translate.

As you know, usury is the form of income which is taken from depts as a reciprocation for outdated credits. Putting usury right against the charity is a sign that usury kills the goodness in humanity and crushes the feeling of helping people. So true, since we all see that usury is indeed destroys the virtues and wisdoms for helping people, holding the hands of poors and raising them back up.

In a society, higher the usury interests means higher the poverty and bad feelings. On the opposite side, low interest rates for usury means low poverty, rich society and heightened good feelings. That’s why it’s very meaningful that Qur’an shows charity, helping people without waiting a return; as a source of virtue and wisdom on a social aspect. Unlike usury which makes quite the opposite. Moving on.

zalike Bi ennehum kalu innemel bey’u mislurRiba This is for what? For the question of why people who devour usury stands and moves like they are possessed by satan? Because they say; “Trade is like usury.” Actually seeing usury and trade in the same page is a crippled logic. Because in trading; a commodity is bought, naturally a compensation must be given for that. And in trade person who buys that thing, gains a commodity. It might be a stuff or a service, a benefit and now it’s in his possession. Buys a stuff and owns a stuff. He now has a saying over that commodity. But there is no saying over the the usury of a debt. Person who has the loan has no saying over that loan since at one point he will give that back. That’s one.

Secondly, in trading a value is exchanged. There is no value created in usury. Only money gains over money. Also trading is an event which both sides have consent over. But usury borns from peoples necessity, their financial crisis and economical obstacles; usury is the form of opportunity born to take advantage from people like these and turning this opportunity to money. That’s why no generation would know the calamity of usury as our generation since we live with interest rates, mortgages and loan sharks everywhere. The biggest reason of usury is inflation, and the biggest reason of inflation is usury. These two give life to each other.

Think about a country, a newborn child borns with a debt that his grandchildren wouldn’t be able to pay. Usury is the reason for that. World is devided to two sections, those who take the debt and face the usury and those who give and eat the usury. Usurers are the ones who exploits the world and the others are the ones who are enslaved by that debts. Also interesting enough, usurers are the ones who devour 80 percent of worlds incomes with their population of 20 percent of the world. And the other side the left 80 percent of the world must feed these 20 percent and they must also have to live with the leftover 20 percent income.

What kind of division is this? Even a wolf wouldn’t do that if he becomes the king of sheeps. He can’t. How can we talk about justice in this world, how can we prevent hunger, how can we establish social life. That’s the reason why Qur’an bans usury completely. To establish the social justice and to prevent people to be turned into slaves in the hands of rich people.

ve ehalellahul bey’a ve harremerRiba But Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury. fe men caehu mevizatun min Rabbihi fenteha whoever stops this right after receiving the direction of Allah, felehu ma selef previous gains stays with him and ve emruhu illallah the judgement of them is with Allah. ve men ‘ade feulaike ashabunnar And whoever turns his face from Allah’s advise, he is the one; hum fiyha halidun; who will be the companion of hell. And they will stay there forever.

Yes dear friends, like we used to express before, usury is a social virus. Scholars have handled the proofs that restrict this usury virus under two headlines.

1-Absolute proofs2-Notional proofs

And with them, usury is devided to two sections as well.

1-Usury of interest rates which is banned by absolute proofs.2-And other usury types that is restricted by notions and comparisons by other proofs.

In Qur’an the type of usury banned by absolute proofs is the type of usury which is taken from an interest rated loan. This type of usury was the only form in ignorance age. People who are in need was taking a loan and later he had to pay his loan with interest. The money owner, the loan shark as we may call now, the person who gives the loan was coming to the person in debt and asking him “Will you pay now with interest or should I raise the interest rates?” If the person who took the loan before couldn’t be able to pay at that time, the previous loan was raised which in that case he had to accept the previous loan plus interest with another interest rate. With that method, the capital money was multiplied several times more. After that the poors were becoming the slaves of loan shark and the money owners were using, exploiting the labor of the poors without moving a finger. At ignorance age this type of usury is called “Riba-i nesie”. Usury of raising interest rates. Walking usury.

And there’s Riba fadle which has been restricted by notional proofs. The usury type of cash-based trades. By paying cash in advance, the buyer might lower the price for bulk trading which in that case turns the interest rates to his advantage. Sometimes with a down payment he might buy the product with a higher quantity and a lower price. It’s a form of reverse usury. This type of usury is called Riba fadle. There are some hadith that restrict this riba. A famous hadith may be found in every sources for that matter.

Ez zehabu, biz zehebi. El varaku bil varaki, eshairu bishairi, el hintetu bil hintati, et temru bit temri ye dem biyet ve illa riban. Six items are counted. Gold, silver, date fruit, salt, barley and wheat. They can be changed with the same amount and with down payment. As in gold with gold, silver with silver; they can be exchanged without changing the value. If within the same product the value is changed this trading becomes usury. But there is another truth which we see by Imam Malik. He had accepted that buying a refined and workmanshipped gold bracelet with a higher gold value. Since the interest is not for the golds value but the workmanships additional value.

So these types of trading must be mutual. For this trading moral line has crossed where the point people are cheated, your trading partner has been misled and the persons product, service or money has been forcefully taken; the line has crossed where the trading ends end the unfair actions starts. If there’s an injustice, there is tyranny and oppression. The disease of usury infected trading is this. A gain without earning. Taking the peoples possessions by force.

At this point scholars has been devided as two groups. One group bans the usury completely, the others seperates the absolute usury like interest rates of a loan from other types of money transitions which in that case have no usury in them. For example, Ibn. Abbas had said that usury is only for interest rates of loans and his proofs in his books are like these. La riba, illa fin nesie. Usury is not admisible for money trading except the interest rates of a loan. The proof of this claim which is a hadith that Ibn Abbas said he had heard this from Usame bin Zeyd. But in same cases he also said that this one is among the false hadiths which are deleted from the originals later on and he had no idea about it so he pulled his claims back by saying “I didn’t know this.”.

Actually the basis of usury transactions should be like this. A person must avoid expoiting other peoples efforts and services and forcefully taking other peoples possessions at all cost. Whatever the name is for this act, it’s against the very spirit of Qur’an as well as the verdicts of it.

So, at this point it would be inappropriate to debate over which kinds of trading has usury in it or which usury is within Qur’ans verses and which are don’t. The main topic is this. People should act with morally and honestly. To whom? First of all, to himself. They should take the verdict from their hearts and consciences first. If there’s a verdict they heard from others which allows them to act against laws and honesty; they should know that Allah sees them all and nobody can decieve Allah.

Allah destroys (income from) usury and increases (the return of) charity! Allah does not favor those who persist in their mistakes. (A.Hulusi)

Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity: For He loveth not any ungrateful and wicked. (A.Yusuf Ali)

YemhakullahurRiba Allah pulls the abundance from usury. ve yurbis Sadekat* and increase the fertility of charity. vAllahu la yuhibbu kulle keffarin esiym; Allah doesn’t like those infidels who persist in their mistakes. kulle keffarin esiym part can be translated as persistent infidels or ungreatfuls.

Why is there an intense reference here? Because if a man continues to eat usury over and over, even after hearing Allah’s open warning; it’s madness according to this verses statement. 275th verse was saying; person who stands and moves like they are possessed by satan.

It’s obvious that usurer cannot act logical. Because usurer is a person filled with greed. He cannot think how much money has the loan earned him from the person in front of him. He cannot think that he might lose money from that loan he gives. He cannot think the outcome will be for his benefit or his loss beforehand.

That’s why usurer acts with madness. He cannot use his mind. He cannot use his logic. Instincts, greed and the passion of piling is what drives him. He always hungry for winning. But his profit cannot hold any blessing. He always counts his earnings but he cannot check what this gain will add or substract from his happiness. Nonetheless this verse says; YemhakullahurRiba ve yurbis Sadekat Allah destroys (lifts) the blessing from usury and adds blessings to charities, helps without waiting a return.

Yes you might earn money, but nobody can add blessing to your earnings. Only Allah might give a blessing to your earnings. And obviously it’s proportional with the purity of that earning. Winning is not humanly virtuous all by itself. Winning the pure way, gaining a clean earning is a virtue.

People who say; “I don’t care where the money will come, let them come to me”; become the slaves of gain. They are like the slaves who are willingly give their leashes to other masters. They are the slaves of possession. The slaves of money. And that’s why they cannot act with intelligence. A usurer cannot use his mind, we just said. They only act with their instincts. Always search for more and more. He cannot be sated. Even their wallets, their accounts are full, their eyes cannot be sated. This unsatisfied nature drive them to a point of greed which they can devour the entire world without giving a thought. This greed of winning transforms and finally that people begin to appear as human shells which are completely out of moral values, people who can sacrifice his entire beings illogically and irrationally for gain; basically people who act like they are possessed by demons.

Those who believe and perform the necessary beneficial deeds, establish salat and give zakah will have special rewards with their Rabb. They will have nothing to fear or grieve. (A. Hulusi)

Those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and establish regular prayers and regular charity, will have their reward with their Lord: On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (A.Yusuf Ali)

Innelleziyne amenu ve amilus salihati Faithful. Yes. Faith is something we are sure of via knowledge and mind. Beginnings this verse with an addressing of faithfuls is about the attitude of humans agains usury. With all that knowledge and mind; don’t you believe that usury is a loss for humanity? If you believe this; with your knowledge and your minds you should believe that usury is bad for humanity, in fact it’s a virus in all economical theories. No form of economy sees high rated usury or any kind of usury as a contribution for economy. In most advanced countries, usury is extremely low if not non-existent. But if you check the third world countries you see that usury rates are very high, hence the people are very poor.

Even if you find the logic at this point, you may easily understand that usury is not just a spiritual disease but an earthly one as well. Right when you comprehed this reality, verse starts with Innelleziyne amenu, almost declaring this; O humans, if Allah restricts something for you, know that it is already bad for you. It’s a matter of trust for Allah. Those who trust Allah know that these restrictions are for their own goods. That’s why faith is a necessity. You shall trust Allah with infinity, so that you know those restrictions and orders are for your own benefits.

Of course, that alone is not enough. Trusting Allah all by itself is not enough. We should crown it, enhance it with actions and deeds. This is the second one ve amilussalihat do righteous deeds. Yes, enhancing the trust for Allah with actions. Turning the faith into a movement, turning it to an action. In my previous lessons, I said; if faith is the root of a tree, then the deeds are the fruits of it. Let’s continue.

ve ekamus Salate And those who raise the prays, who actualize the pray. I cannot say, those who do their prays because it cannot give the true meaning of this verse. What is “ikame” of prays? Turning the prays into reality. Raising the prays to its feet, vitalize and actualize the prays. If the prays are taken differently from good deeds, we see that it has a very different function. An actualized pray cannot be evaluated as just a good deed.

The function of praying should be wider, more spiritual. To be able to understand the real meaning of ikame for prays, we should check again the sura of Maun. In that chapter; prays, helping poors, protecting orphans, making good deeds and feeding the poors and hungry people concepts come side by side. They are intertwined. So in that sense, actualizing the pray, should be taken as moving the soul of prays into life, turning the prays into life. And moving on.

ve atevuz Zekate those who give their zekats. Zekat means purification. Cleansing is another word for it. Gaining inner wealth by exchanging from earthly wealth. As in, you shall give some of your wealth for the blessing of Allah and Allah shall add a spiritual fortune in your hearts. You will be given an inner wealth. Your souls shall be purified by giving awat from your earthly gains. You will be cleansed. This is the function of zekat. And all those;

lehum ecruhum inde Rabbihim Their fees, prizes, rewards are with their Rabb. As in, only Allah shall reward them. ve la havfun aleyhim ve la hum yahzenun; And most importantly, they won’t feel sorry for their past, nor anxious for their future. People who trust Allah, are the ones who won’t feel anxious about their future. And usurers live under constant fears and anxious. They cannot feel safe anytime. People who are cursed with greed, always look to the future with scepticism and never feel safe and sure for their futures. If a person is sure of Allah’s protection, he cannot be swallowed by greed. Because that man knows that a persons power is depleted, Allah’s help will always arrive. Allah is Rezzak-i Alem, The Sustainer of All Worlds.

That person knows that if he shows compassion to Allah’s people, Allah will show compassion to him. That’s why; ve la havfun aleyhim ve la hum yahzenun; They don’t carry the fears of future. And because they are sure about their future, no one can scare them. They cannot be bought, because they already dedicated their lives for eternal values. They sold their own beings to a one being, Allah. And since Allah bought them, no one else can even bargain for them.

They look at usurers with pity, with sad faces. Because usurers act with their instincts and passions not with their minds. Because they sacrificed their eternal happinesses for temporary joys. They cannot know and learn their own benefits. This is the reason why people who trust Allah are the ones who are sure about their futures because this trust come from their faiths.

They won’t feel sorry for their doings in the past. ve la hum yahzenun; they won’t feel sorrow. Because of their good deeds, sacrifices they did for others, their charities, their feeding the hungry and garbing the poor deeds; they won’t feel sorry. They will only say; “Good that we did all of them. We wish we had done more.” They won’t feel sorry at all, only feeling for them will be satisfaction.

Those who will taste the regret will be usurers, people who attack viciously to others goods, people who cannot be sated and devoure by greed. Those who lean the world and make the world and possession as their masters; they are the ones who will regret everything.

O believers, abandon the excess from usury to be protected from Allah, if you are of the believers. (A.Hulusi)

O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if ye are indeed believers. (A.Yusuf Ali)

Ya eyyuhelleziyne amenuttekullahe vezeru ma bekiye miner Riba O you faithfuls, if you want to prove your claims of faith, know your responsibility for Allah and give up your gains from usury. If you want to prove your claims of faith, know your responsibility for Allah. If you know your responsibility for Allah, it’s only natural that you accept Allah’s invitation. You give up. Giving up cannot cover the meaning now. You should let go all kinds of gains based on usury. But if you submit to Allah, you shall give up those as well.

Remember, back in the days of Rasulallah; Abu-Bakir had come to Rasulallah and gave up his entire possessions for charity. Rasulallah asked him, “What did you leave to your children?” He answered, “I left them Allah and his Rasul.” A person who submits to Allah completely, who trusts Allah, who understands the gain as eternal fortune; not only gives up the incomes of usury or interest rates of loans, he can also spend his entire pure and clean possessions on the way of Allah. So where can be the challenge for a man like that to accept this invitation of Allah?

in kuntum mu’miniyn; Of course, if you really believe. This is the closing line of the verse. If you really believe, give up your incomes and gains based on usury. For a person to accept this invitation and follow it, he should first need a feature. That is the consciousness of knowing the responsibility for Allah. Because if a person knows his responsibility for Allah, he knows his responsibilities to people too. But if a person doesn’t know that, that people have no meaning for him. These two are in the same line. They are connected to each other. That’s why when Qur’an says, “Know your responsibility to Allah.”, you should also understand that you should know your responsibilities for people and possessions as well.

And if you don’t do this, know that you will have waged war against Allah and His Rasul. If you recognize your mistake and abandon it for good you can earn your right to receive your principal. (This way) you won’t wrong and you won’t be wronged. (A.Hulusi)

If ye do it not, take notice of war from Allah and His Messenger. But if ye repent, ye shall have your capital sums: Deal not unjustly, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly. (A.Yusuf Ali)

Fein lem tef’alu fe’zenu Bi harbin minAllahi ve RasuliHI And if you don’t do this, know that you will have waged war against Allah and His Rasul.

This is a very heavy expression. Waging war agains Allah and Rasulallah. Why does Qur’an evaluate the situation like this? Allah qualifies a person who ignores the messages of “Give up usury, don’t act with usury, don’t devour other peoples rights” as a person who wages war against himself. Why? Because if a person doesn’t listen to Allah’s orders, then he automatically listens his inner instincts hence satans orders. If a person puts his tempting instincts against Allah’s orders; he deities his instincts. As in, he puts a false deity against Allah.

Naturally this action is a war against Allah. In this sense, every rejection against Allah’s orders is an action of putting tempting instincts, inner desires against Allah as a false god. This is openly waging war against Allah.

ve in tubtum felekum ruusu emvalikum If you repent, which also requires removing the wreckage of a sin. For your repetance to be complete you should clean all the negativity that a sin left behind. That means a complete repetance. felekum ruusu emvalikum then your capital is all yours. As in; if you give what you earn without your rights, if you amke amends and cover the losses of people you oppress; then your own money is yours. la tazlimune ve la tuzlemun; This way you neither oppress, nor you are oppressed.

This way you shall not do wrong by getting usury. Getting treated unjustly, let’s put this concept in these modern days. Losing money to inflation is also being wronged. Also removing other peoples wealths by using the inflation is a form of reverse usury. An unjust action for capital owners. That’s why we shall not wrong, we shall not wrong others by devouring usury. But nobody should want others to lose their wealth against inflation too. If after a trading, a person cannot pay his debt within the time range and the salesman loses money to inflation in that process; it is an unjustly action to the salesman this time, which is unpleasant like the opposite.

Neither do wrong nor get wronged. That’s why forwarded differences in inflation effected economies cannot be taken within the content of usury. This is not just for todays standarts; almost 700 years ago Razi, in his translation said; If a person buys a cloth with 10 money and sells it to 11 next month, it is a clean action. If something you bought at 10 money and after one month you want to sell it to 11 because of the monthly money difference, it is allowed.

Really at this point, the standards of todays enormous dimensions of inflation or should we say, the economy which suffers from high rated inflation; if justice and other peoples rights are wanted to be preserved, the rights and laws must be followed. This means, the restriction of usury in Islam, shouldn’t be used as a motive to diminish others wealths against inflation.

If (the indebted) is in financial hardship, then grant them respite until a time of ease. If you write it off as an act of charity, it will be better for you, if only you knew. (A.Hulusi)

If the debtor is in a difficulty, grant him time till it is easy for him to repay. But if ye remit it by way of charity, that is best for you if ye only knew. (A.Yusuf Ali)

Ve in kane zu ‘usretin If (the indebted) is in financial difficulty, fe neziratun ila meyseretin grant him time till it is easy for him to repay. Qur’an gives a moral advise to the money denders here. If the indebted are in a difficult condition, give them time till they are in ease for you to repay.

ve en tesaddeku hayrun lekum in kuntum ta’lemun; If you write it off, give up your right as an act of charity to the person indebted to you and having a hard time paying it back; it will be better for you, if only you knew.

Protect yourselves from the day when you shall be returned to Allah. v, and they will not be wronged. (A.Hulusi)

And fear the Day when ye shall be brought back to Allah. Then shall every soul be paid what it earned, and none shall be dealt with unjustly. (A.Yusuf Ali)

Vetteku yevmen turce’une fiyhi ilAllah and right after Qur’an finishes the topic of usury, the speech comes to the eternal future as always.

Why should you do all these, why will be the reason for what you have done, o human. And just like that, a window is opened right in front of your eyes and you are been watched your eternal future. It’s an invitation to think about your afterlife. It’s a call rescuing you from getting stuck in temporary lives parameters. It’s a summon for breaking the chains of your instincts and tempting self egos and desires, and by that opening your souls wings to fly away to eternity.

Vetteku yevmen turce’une fiyhi ilAllahi And fear the Day when you shall be brought back to Allah. Fear the arrival of a Day, know that day when you shall return back to Allah. summe tuveffa kullu nefsin ma kesebet That is when every soul shall be paid in full for what it has earned ve hum la yuzlemun; and there won’t be any injustice.

Qur’an remind us a day like this. It calls us to be aware of a day like this. A day which we will return to Allah. A day which every one of us shall be paid in full for what it has earned. A day which none of us will be wronged. The message here is this.

O human, don’t let your actions be limited in temporary earth life. As a human every action of yours has also a dimension exceeds that earthly realm. So do your deeds by evaluating, consider everything with an eye beyond the sight. Evaluate the value of every actions you take for Allah’s gaze. And ask this question; “What would Allah say?” If you ask this question, which you should first be aware of your responsibilities for Allah but if you manage to ask this question; only then you adjust your actions as Allah has ordered for you.

Right at this moment, the topic here has been moved to a different yet relevant one with the previous topic of usury. And it is time for the longest verse in Qur’an.

O believers, when you contract a debt for a specified time, write it down. Let a just person among you write it. And let the one who knows how to write not refuse to write as Allah has taught him. Let the one who has the liability (the indebted one) dictate. Let him fear his Rabb, Allah, and not leave anything out. If the indebted one is of limited understanding or a child, let his guardian dictate. Let two men be witnesses. If there aren’t two men, then let the witnesses be one man and two women, so if one of them forgets or errs, the other can remind. And let not the witnesses refuse when they are called upon. And do not be weary to write the debt, whether it is small or large, including its specified term. That is more appropriate and stronger in the sight of Allah and a more sound approach to prevent doubt in the future. Except when the transaction between you involves cash, then there is no blame upon you if you do not write it. And take witnesses even when you make a transaction. Let no scribe be harmed or any witness. For if you harm them, you would have harmed yourself. And be protected from Allah. Allah teaches you. Allah is Aleem over all things. (A.Hulusi)

O ye who believe! When ye deal with each other, in transactions involving future obligations in a fixed period of time, reduce them to writing. Let a scribe write down faithfully as between the parties: let not the scribe refuse to write: as Allah Has taught him, so let him write. Let him who incurs the liability dictate, but let him fear His Lord Allah, and not diminish aught of what he owes. If the party liable is mentally deficient, or weak, or unable himself to dictate, let his guardian dictate faithfully. And get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her. The witnesses should not refuse when they are called on (for evidence). Disdain not to reduce to writing (your contract) for a future period, whether it be small or big; it is juster in the sight of Allah, more suitable as evidence, and more convenient to prevent doubts among yourselves but if it be a transaction which ye carry out on the spot among yourselves, there is no blame on you if ye reduce it not to writing. But take witness whenever ye make a commercial contract; and let neither scribe nor witness suffer harm. If ye do (such harm), it would be wickedness in you. So fear Allah. For it is Allah that teaches you.(A.Yusuf Ali)

Ya eyyuhelleziyne amenu iza tedayentum Bi deynin ila ecelin musemmen fektubuh O believers, when you contract a debt for a specified time with each others, write it down. Record it.

This is the longest verse in Qur’an. And surely there must be a reason, a sign, a wisdom behind it. This verses topic is mostly on economy. It talks about recording, making a contract over timely debts. Also it is a full page. There might be questions about why the longest verse in Qur’an is about economy? Like I said, there’s a sign here. A truth which must be; a sign of Qur’an points that in the future the greatest problem of humanity will be economy, both personal and social level. It’s choice is not so unreasonable.

vel yektub beynekum katibun Bil’adl Let a fair scribe, a just person among you write it. Why a fair scribe among you? To ask this question and get an accurate answer, first you must know the era this verse sent down very well. Especially in a society which verbal culture is common and reading-writing is very limited, surely there would be some difficulties arisen. So Qur’an wants that people –which mostly are not capable of reading and writing; scholars or even readers are very scarce- to do their trading businesses on a law scale, with a fair manner. To make it happen, this long verse was sent down. ve la ye’be katibun en yektube kema allemehullahu fel yektub The scribe shouldn’t refuse to write. He should write as Allah has taught him. fel yektub he should write, he shouldn’t hesitate from writing.

Why is there an expression like this here? Because in that era, there are two sides who cannot read or write. The salesman cannot read or write, so was the buyer. And a third party was involved which was the scribe. He has no profit from that trade, no gain. And because both sides don’t know to read, they have no idea what he writes down. All transaction is based on scribes honesty. That’s why the rule of a fair scribe is a necessity. You can imagine what kinds of problems surface if there are objections. So in that time period, you should realize what a great revolution was this verse; since it made possible for true believers to trade within the range of laws and able to prevent those whole transactions to turn into social scars.

velyumlililleziy aleyhil hakku Let the indebted side dictate. It says whoever is in debt, that side should make the recording. This is the liability given to the indebted side be this verse. vel yettekillahe Rabbehu He should know his responsibility for Allah which is his Rabb. ve la yebhas minhu shey’a And not leave anything out from his debt. The indebted side should speak fairly when he dictates the scribe. Saying him everything like “I owe that much to this person.”

Normally a fair scribe should record the declaration of both sides. Because if he only writes down the indebted side, then the document becomes one sided and comes from the words of the person who is in debt. So if the indebted side dictates false statement, if he dictates less debt or more somehow, then the document seal only his words. This is the spot where the indebted side to show his debt lesser or the lending side to show his collecting more are both totally restricted.

fein kanelleziy aleyhil hakku sefiyhen ev daiyfen ev la yestetiy’u en yumille If mentally inadequate, fein kanelleziy if the indebted part is mentally inadequate sefiyhen or sefih, we can translate this as uneducated or very naive. ev daiyfen or inadequate as body, as in his age is under limits of trading. ev la yestetiy’u en yumille or in a state which renders him unable to dictate, huve then this time felyumlil veliyyuhu Bil’adl the person who is tasked to protect his benefits should dictate the document fairly. vesteshhidu shehiydeyni min Ricalikum “When all these are happening you should use two men as witnesses.” says Qur’an. One side is the buyer, other side is the tradesman or money lender in some occasions. Both unable to read or write. And then there is a scride as conduit, middle man who knows how to read and write. And now two sides are joined the transaction. Two people come to the picture in trading. These are witnesses.

fe in lem yekuna Raculeyni feRaculun vemreetani mimmen terdavne mineshuheda If there aren’t two men, then let the witnesses be one man and two women.

And here comes the part of the verse which is used by the ignorant people who don’t understand Qur’an as they should do; as an excuse to show that Qur’an says things against women rights. Right at this point all these accusations are nothing but slanders against both Qur’an and Islam. We should understand the words of this verse throughly and carefully. Only then we may see that these accusations are all but slanders, ignorant assaults and totally wrong but in fact Qur’an has made the greatest revolution. What is this greatest revolution? As you know the era when this verses sent down, women hadn’t been used in any form of legal processes. They are out of laws reach. In fact not only in that region, all world was in that state. Both eastern and western civilization in that era had counted women as non-existent socially. They were non-existent legally. They weren’t counted as humans. In that world, first time, Qur’an has chosen to include women in the legal processes. This is what needs to be taken under light, including of women into legal processes.

So should the verse be taken like “two women equals to one man”; the verse answers this claim openly and declares that it would be false and lie. The verse says; “Let two men as witnesses, if it isn’t possible to do so, then let it be one man and two women.”

At this point you will ask why? Because every order has reasons underneath. They all have wisdom. Sometimes these reasons are open, sometimes they are sealed. Sometimes the reasons come with the other or can be understood from the orders words. Like this verse. The reason of this verse resides within the order itself. As in the reason is given with the order. Why two women?

en tedille ihdahuma fe tuzekkira ihdahumel uhra so if one of them forgets or errs, the other can remind. So the other one takes her place. It’s clear, this is the reason. The following question is this, “Why is it necessary?” As in why all these are not a requirement for men but a thing for women. One woman forgets or errs, the other one corrects her and takes her place as witness.

Now it’s a well-known truth that women of that era were mostly out of trading businesses. Trading was a man-only type of occupation. Althought some women were involved with trading like Hz. Hatice, their involvements weren’t with direct contact. They hadn’t kept their accounts by themselves. They were women who give their money to other mens to gain from trading businesses. In that era no women were involved personally in the trading hence they had no knowledge about the processes if buyings and sellings.

Despite this fact Qur’an considered and started an application for the first time in that era. Involving women in trading businesses and contracts. This was a total revolution and made a deep inpact in such a patriarchic community.

With that revolution however Qur’an kept the inexperience nature of women in business for consideration and brought a term to protect the possessions and gains of people. Two women witnesses. This was not a term which puts two women as equal to one man. Why? This was a term because if one woman forgets or errs, the other woman should be present to remind her.

Let’s think about this mathematically. John, Mary and Sue are witnesses. John delivers his statement. Mary forgets so Sue steps in and this time Sue’s statement is taken. Because Mary forgets. It is then Sue’s testimony is required. And Sue delivered her statement just like John did. So in that case how many people are taken as witnesses. Two people, not three. So what kind of approach is to take this clear term and turn it into an understanding of two women equals to one man. There’s no such thing. It is there so that first one forgets, second one reminds her; first one gets wrong, second woman is there to remind her. If the first woman becomes unable to give her statement, second woman is there to deliver the truth. The expression here;

en tedille going astray, forgetting, doing wrong, getting confused, there are many meaning for this expression but mostly are in this frame. That’s why it can be used for confused, forgot, deviate, wrong even deliberately tricked. One woman replaces the other woman who tries to trick. So where is the two women equals to one nonsense in all these?

Plus we can prove this claim wrong by also using Qur’an. Chapter Nisa/15. For fornication four witnesses are required. For a person to be charged for fornication, Qur’an demands four witnesses. There is no discrimination of man and woman. All witnesses might be women or entirely men. There’s no term like “If they are all women, they must be eight women.” There’s no such thing.

Also in the second verse of Talak chapter, two witnesses are requires. Also there’s no man or woman requirements there. In these chapters the witnesses requirements are with adult natures. They all must be taken as mentally full grown. Term always comes with grown statements. Talibiyet (superiority) is a necessity so witnesses are taken from the most capable individuals. In arabic language it is usually comes with “eril” term. It is not about male or female discrimination because when “eril” term is used as plural form it includes all men and women inside and the orders and verdicts include them all.

That’s why in verse 2 of Talak, two witnesses are required but there’s no terms marked as male of female. We might come across several interesting examples in the verses of 4 and 8 of Nur chapter. Husbands and wives which don’t trust each other and slander each other with fornication claims. In that case they are called for oaths. The oaths and curses begin with male side first. He takes an oath four times saying; “I swear to Allah that I didn’t do fornication.” Four times. By the fifth times, the oath must be turned to a curse, saying; “If I did any fornication; Allah’s curse shall be upon me.”

After that the wife takes over the oaths and swears four times just like the man. And for the fifth time ends the oath with a curse saying; “Allah’s curse shall be upon me.” This proces is called “Mulaene.” In fornication slanders, sides may call each others for this process. If there is a difference between man and woman that must be taken as considation; if two women would really be equal to one man; if woman’s testimony is half as reliable as man’s, then she should swear eight times for mans four oaths. But also, there is no such thing.

Also in the verse 106 of Maida, there is an expression like two witnesses from outside. Two witnesses which are not among you. So it is possible to use non-muslim individuals as witnesses. So in that case should we also say; a non-muslim man is equal to two muslim woman as well. Who can say such a thing? Who says this?

That’s why it is possible to use Qur’an for openly denying the slanders against Qur’an, because verses verdict comes with all the explanations we need. What’s it say?

en tedille ihdahuma fe tuzekkira ihdahumel uhra if one of them forgets, errs, says wrong or deflects; the other one should correct her and say the truth. ve la ye’beshuhedau iza ma du’u and witnesses shouldn’t run from the task when they are summoned. ve la tes’emu en tektubuhu sagiyran ev kebiyran ila ecelih And do not be weary to write the debt, whether it is small or large, including its specified term. This sentence carries the same meaning with the beginning sentence of this verse. Always try to write the debts with timeline, always record them.

About these expressions, from the point of fektubu in the first sentence of this verse –you must write it- or from the point of this sentences origin; scholars debate over this orders nature; whether it is a must duty or an advise. Most of the scholars have reached a conclusion of an advise nature. But I believe that according to this verse there are times that this order can be taken as a must duty and there are times which shall we take it as an advise. Because I say; it’s all about the situation. Writing down the debts with timelines have their situations. With the next sentence of this verse, these situations are explained.

zalikum aksetu indAllah The reasons, the situations of recordings. It is considered fair by Allah, that’s one. The first reason is to reach a fair ground and actualize the justice in that process. Second; ve akvemu lishehadeti It is more reliable to show as proof. Second is the proof reliability. In case of an objection, the record is the first evidence. Third; ve edna ella tertabu It is more convenient in case of doubts. To remove any doubts, to erase any suspicions. As you can see there are three reasons for it.

A debt, a trading; if there’s a slightest doubt about justice, a tiny bit of trust is needed; then writing all things down is required. But if it is possible to erase any doubts, prevent any injustice and secure the proofs with any other kind of tools, any other kinds of ways; then writing down might become unnecessary. Only then these words in this verse become advices.

If securing justice, erasing doubt and proving claims can be done by other means and there are no problems in that area, then this verse should be taken as advice. But if these three situations can only be met by writing, then this verse should be taken as an order.

illa en tekune ticareten hadireten tudiyruneha beynekum But if your trading is based on prepayment then in that case; feleyse aleykum cunahun ella tektubuha there is no sin, no consequences for you in not to writing it down, recording it.

ve eshhidu iza tebaya’tum And take witnesses even when you make a transaction. ve la yudarre katibun ve la shehiydun Let no scribe be harmed or any witness. As in there should be no harm for witnesses just because they do their duties as witnessing or no harm for scribe just because he does his job. ve in tef’alu if you do that; fe innehu fusukunBikum if you try to harm the witnesses and the scribe, like forcing the witnesses to perjury or fraudulence or the scribe to record inaccurate informations, only you harm yourselves for result.

fusukun Bikum, fusuk, there is a word comes from the root of fisk. fusukun Bikum. The word fisk had never been used with that meaning in ignorance age. It has a neutral meaning. It means getting out of some place. But here I choose a meaning which involves that root too and use it as a result word. The result, the outcome is for your harm. Vettekullah Know your responsibilities to Allah. ve yuallimukumullah Do you realize what Allah wants to do with all these? Allah educates you, Allah teaches you. vAllahu Bi kulli shey’in ‘Aliym; Bear in mind that Allah knows everything with every detail.

If you are traveling and cannot find a scribe, pledges may be taken in word. If you trust each other, let the trustee restore the pledge faithfully and let him fear his Rabb. Do not conceal what you have witnessed. Whoever conceals his testimony, indeed his heart is guilty (unable to reflect its essence; veiled from its reality). Allah knows what you do in the scope of the letter B. (A.Hulusi)

If ye are on a journey, and cannot find a scribe, a pledge with possession (may serve the purpose). And if one of you deposits a thing on trust with another, Let the trustee (faithfully) discharge his trust, and let him fear Allah, his Lord. Conceal not evidence; for whoever conceals it,- His heart is tainted with sin. And Allah Knoweth all that ye do. (A.Yusuf Ali)

Ve in kuntum ala seferin ve lem tecidu katiben ferihanun makbudatun If you are traveling and cannot find a scribe… Considering the facts of that era, including the number of people who know reading and writing were very few; you may understand the need of this verse much easier. In that case; ferihanun makbudatun a pledge may be used for that purpose.

fein emine ba’dukum ba’dan felyueddillezi’tumine emanetehu velyettekillahe Rabbehu if you trust one another, if you trust each others, felyueddillezi’tumine emanetehu let the trustee restore the pledge faithfully. He shouldn’t betray that trust. He should do what he is supposed to do. velyettekillahe Rabbehu He should realize his responsibilities for and fear from Allah. ve la tektumushehadete And don’t conceal the evidence, testimony, witnesses. ve men yektumha fe innehu asimun kalbuh Whoever conceals his testimony, and let others be hurt for it; indeed his heart is guilty.

An interesting expression, guilty heart, a sinner heart. A heart becomes a sinner. As in; satan takes over the capital of body country. If a heart becomes a sinner, it is like a mirrors dark covering is peeled off and it couldn’t show the truth anymore. It is like a hearts heaven turns into a hell. A sinner heart is the destination of a heart turns into a stone without the feelings of remorse and love.

This is the destination point of a hearts journey to become a sinner. That’s why prophet says; “iza fesedeha fesedel beden ve iza salahaha salahal beden ela vehiyel kalp.” “There’s an organ in the body, if it is good, the whole body is good, if it is corrupted, the whole body breaks. It is heart.” At this point it issafe to assume that whoever takes over the control of heart –the capital of body- it can control the entire country including suburbs like hands, feet, eyes, ears, tongue and lips. They are all in hearts disposal.

Remember when we translated the 225th verse of Baqarah, we came across a similar expression. ve lakin yuahizukum Bi ma kesebet kulubukum Allah won’t hold you responsibles for your empty oaths. But you will be responsibles for your hearts gains. This was the verse. The gains of hearts. The incomes of heart. Don’t say it is just a heart. Heart is the reactor of a nuclear plant. The power generated in that facility can destroy or vitalize an entire world. vAllahu Bi ma ta’melune ‘Aliym; Allah is aware of all things you do.

Whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah (to manifest His Names)… Whether you show what is within your consciousness (your thoughts) or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it with the quality of the Name Hasib. He will forgive (cover) whom he wills and cause suffering upon whom He wills. Allah is Qadir over all things. (A.Hulusi)

To Allah belongeth all that is in the heavens and on earth. Whether ye show what is in your minds or conceal it, Allah Calleth you to account for it. He forgiveth whom He pleaseth, and punisheth whom He pleaseth, for Allah hath power over all things. (A.Yusuf Ali)

Lillahi ma fiys Semavati ve ma fiyl Ard Whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. Just when the chapter is about to be finished, a declaration which gives us the summary of this sura; the index of Qur’an. And these are the closing verses of it. Lillahi ma fiys Semavati ve ma fiyl Ard Whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. O human, you too belong to Allah. That’s why Allah defines the human life since all of them are belong to Allah. So if you forget why Allah puts all these rules, it’s because you belong o Allah. And don’t you forget that Allah is not only the god of heavens but god of earth as well. Allah doesn’t just stand far over somewhere, Allah is here too. Allah interferes this life too.

ve in tubdu ma fiy enfusikum ev tuhfuhu yuhasibkum BiHIllah Whether you show what is within you or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account with it. You will be hold responsible for all things you conceal or reveal.

There’s a connection to this with the topic above, the witnessing business. What can you change for Allah if you conceal a truth you witnessed before. Allah knows. But naturally this verses context is way more comprehensive than just witnessing. That’s why we should think this verse independently from the verses above and figure out that this expression is about all the actions and thoughts that human has.

feyagfiru limen yeshau ve yuazzibu men yesha’* Allah forgives whom he wills and cause suffering upon whom He wills. vAllahu ala kulli shey’in Kadiyr; Allah has power over all things.

“The Rasul (Muhammad saw) has believed in what was revealed (knowledge that emerged from the dimensional depths) to him (to his consciousness) from his Rabb (the qualities of the Names of Allah comprising his essential reality). And so have the believers! They have all believed (in line with the meaning denoted by the letter B) that the Names of Allah comprise their essence, and in the angels (the forces of the Names constituting their being), the Books (all revealed knowledge) and the Rasuls… They say, “We make no distinction between (the ways in which the knowledge of Allah was revealed to) His Rasuls… We have perceived and obeyed, we ask for your forgiveness our Rabb; our return is to You.” (A.Hulusi)

The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. “We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His messengers.” And they say: “We hear, and we obey: (we seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys.” (A.Yusuf Ali)

Amener Rasulu Bi ma unzile ileyhi min Rabbihi vel mu’minun The prophet has believed in what was revealed to him from his Rabb and so have the believers. kullun amene Billahi They all have believed Allah. ve MelaiketiHI Allah’s secret powers, they all have believed Allah’s angels. ve KutubiHI Allah’s revelations, messages. ve RusuliHI Allah’s prophets. And said; la nuferriku beyne ehadin min RusuliHI We make no distinction between one and another of Allah’s prophets. Neither they rejected the Jesus and Muhammad as prophets like Jews have done nor rejected Muhammad as prophet like the Christians have done. We know the fact of believing Muhammad means believing all other prophets as well and we make no distinction between one and another. We believe all prophets. We know that they all had taken their messages from the same source. And we know that they are chosen and sent by Allah.

ve kalu semi’na ve eta’na And they say: “We hear, and we obey: gufraneke Rabbena ve ileyKEl masiyr; we seek your forgiveness our Rabb; our return is to You.” This is a follow up of a verse we studied earlier. As you remember; ..ve in tubdu ma fiy enfusikum ev tuhfuhu yuhasibkum BiHIllah Whether you show what is within you or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account with it. According to the stories the day this verse was heard in Madina; there were deep cries in all houses in the entire city. They all came to Rasulallah and said; O Rasulallah, we are ordered to pray, so we have. We are ordered by fasting, so we have. We are ordered by zekat, so we have done. We are ordered by Jihad and we gladly lay our lives for it. But this verse says that we will be hold responsible for what we think, what we conceal within our own beings. We have some emotions, some thoughts in us that no sane person wants it in his heart even if you give him the entire earth. But we have that thoughts. They said this and Rasulallah answered;

Are you saying; semi’na ve aseyna, we heard and we rebeled like those before you? Are you saying we heard and we rebeled? They were crying because they were taking this verse seriously. Because they were taking the Qur’an seriously. They couldn’t acted as blind and deaf for the verses. They were all thinking like “How can we live this verse in our lives? That’s why the verse this house had touched was like a funeral home at that time and this was the conversation between them and Rasulallah.

That’s when Rasulallah offered them this proposition. Don’t say that. Say this. semi’na ve eta’na gufraneke Rabbena ve ileyKEl masiyr;We heard O Rabb and we obeyed O Rabb. We ask for your forgiveness o Rabb. Our return is to You. And since they were repeating these words their prays become the verse and came down to earth from heavens. This is the reason of arrival for this verse. It’s almost like a herald, a good news, this verse.

Allah will never hold anyone responsible for that which they have no capacity. What he earns (as a result of his good deeds) is for his self, and the consequences of (his bad deeds) is also for his self. Our Rabb, do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake. Our Rabb, do not place upon us heavy duties like the ones you placed on those before us. Our Rabb, do not place on us a burden we cannot bear. Pardon us, forgive us, have grace on us. You are our protector. Give us victory over those who cover the reality (disbelievers) and deny You. (A.Hulusi)

On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) “Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Grant us victory over the unbelievers.” (A.Yusuf Ali)

La yukellifullahu nefsen illa vus’aha Good news continues via these words; Allah never places a burden greater than it can bear. No one will be responsible for the things which they have no capacity on. leha ma kesebet ve aleyha mektesebet It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. Ragip el-Isfahani says; the kesb word in first sentence and the iktisab in the second one have both different meanings. Kesb is something a human earn by himself or help others to earn. As in the good deeds you help in this life is written to you as a good deed as well. But iktisap is what you earn solely, so your wickedness is only your earning. Wickedness has a limit, it limits you with only your doings. But good deeds are limitless. You can earn gainings from other peoples good deeds you help.

Rabbena la tuahizna in nesiyna ev ahta’na Our Rabb, do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake. Rabbena ve la tahmil aleyna isran kema hameltehu alelleziyne min kablina Our Rabb, do not place upon us heavy duties like the ones you placed on those before us. Rabbena ve la tuhammilna ma la takate lena Bih Our Rabb, do not place on us a burden we cannot bear. va’fu anna, Pardon us vagfir lena, forgive us, verhamna, have grace on us. ente mevlana You are our protector. ensurna alel kavmil kafiriyn Grant us victory over the unbelievers. Grant us victory, conquest, celestial help. Amen! Vel Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil’Alemiyn;

This pray will continue to echo over true believers tongues and help the believers to have meanings in their lives by crowning their faiths until the days are over. Because those who show faith in Allah, gain the meaning of life. And those who gain the meaning of life, realize that even joy and pain they feel have all meanings. Not just their lives, even their deaths have meanings.

I pray all of you to have meaningful lives.

“Ve ahiru davana velil hamdulillahi rabbil alemiyn” (Jonah/10) “Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds!” All products of our claims, causes and lives are for Allah and our last word to our Allah is “Hamd”.“Esselamu aleykum.”